The Celtics knew Dallas would be desperate.
They knew the Mavs might start fast.
But no one, on the precipice of an NBA championship, saw a 122-84 loss coming Friday night in Game 4.
Jrue Holiday offered a simple analysis for what happened, while dismissing the idea the Celtics softened up pregame and believed their own hype.
“I think winning is hard. I think winning at any game is hard. But winning Game 4 of the NBA Finals is pretty damn hard. So no, I think they came out desperate and I think they punched us in the mouth,” Holiday said. “And we couldn’t kind of recover the way we wanted to.”
Dallas dominated on the glass, grabbing 13 offensive rebounds to the Celtics’ four. The Mavs also scored a series-high 60 points in the paint and forced 13 turnovers. Defensively, Dallas held Jayson Tatum to a team-high 15 points, while co-star Jaylen Brown went 3-of-12 from the floor and scored a dozen.
Those performances came on the heels of an all-time Game 3 for Tatum and Brown, who played one of their best games together to clinch a 3-0 series lead. Neither, however, played nearly to that standard Friday, when they sat with Holiday and the other starters for most of the second half.
Holiday is the only player on Boston’s roster with a ring. However, he didn’t have much to offer when asked what the Celtics must do to clinch Monday night.
“I don’t know. I don’t know, even though I’ve done it,” he said. “You’ve got to do it together as a team. Everybody has to be clicking and being, again, the more desperate team. We’ve just got to go back home. I think locking into tendencies, locking into the game plan, and I think we’ll be.”
Holiday did say the Celtics must be the more desperate team, a common refrain for players and coach Joe Mazzulla this postseason. Mazzulla said post-game Dallas’ effort was “a lot better,” and his players agreed.
“Yeah, I felt like we came out determined. They were the better team. They were the team that was playing harder,” said Al Horford. “He’s right.
